STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Two state agencies are collaborating on a Mississippi program designed to keep child care centers healthy and safe.

Creating Healthy Indoor Child Care Environments is a workshop series that offers training to child care providers and continuing education credit required for licensure. The Mississippi State University Extension Service and the Mississippi State Department of Health Office of Child Care Licensure sponsor the series.

The series is one aspect of the MSU Extension Healthy Homes Initiative, part of a national program designed to share information about common housing-based health and safety risks.

“Many Mississippi children spend just as much time in child care centers as they do in their own homes during their formative years,” said David Buys, MSU Extension health specialist. “Anyone with Extension and the Mississippi State Department of Health would agree that high child care standards are needed to give our children the best chances of success as they become adults, but we also want to make sure we give the state’s child care providers the tools they need to meet those standards.”

Workshop topics include hazardous household products, indoor air quality, integrated pest management, lead poisoning prevention, healthy indoor environments, asthma and allergies, mold and moisture control, safety and accessibility, and home safety and accessibility.

“The Mississippi State Department of Health strongly supports the MSU Extension Service providing the training in these workshops across the state,” said Chad Allgood, director of the Office of Child Care Licensure. “October marks Children’s Health Month, and by that time, Extension agents will be delivering these programs to our child care centers. This helps raise awareness for that month and for its cause, which is improving quality of life for children and families.”